On the 1st day of Christmas..

For the month of December, we have several advent calendars we like to enjoy. One of them includes the traditional German chocolate filled ones that you can buy (we like to find them at Aldi) and the other creates the Nativity scene, one character/object of it, a day. Brycen is really into both, as soon as he wakes up. The other day, he pulled out a camel for the nativity scene and said, "But Mommy, camels live in the desert!" The kid is smart, indeed.

Christmas came early at our house! Since we are traveling to see our families, we continued on the tradition that we started last year of having our own little Christmas before heading out. It is SO nice to not have to worry about packing gifts for each other; rather just ones we are giving to grandparents, uncles, etc. It was especially nice this year, since the boys had some rather large gifts.

We opened our PJs last night like we always do Christmas Eve but sadly, the following pictures were taken after the kiddos got dressed for the day.

 Brycen opened an Easel which he immediately loved. He is very into learning to write letters and his name.

Cian, of course, likes anything Brycen likes so it will be nice that it is 2 sided (one side is a magnetic white board, the other--a chalkboard).

LOVE this picture!

Very clever hoodies we found this year. The boys love.

 

P.S. Notice the pole Bryce is holding in the back--it belongs to my new Outdoor Volleyball net!! SO excited to use it come Spring and ALL summer! Who wants to come play with me??

 

 One of my favorite things about Christmas--spending time with each other and not going anywhere! Brycen is watching his new movie, The Lorax, with Daddy while Cian naps.

We enjoy keeping it simple, with not too many gifts (outside the stockings, we each opened two and had one shared (Mommy/Daddy, Brycen/Cian).

 

My new favorite traditon: saving the weekly ads to use as wrapping paper! They are already cut into convenient squares and rectangles, can be ripped open and then put into recycling like they would end up anyway! No more buying wrapping paper for me!

 

P.S. Brycen just came up to me, after being told to go downstairs with Daddy so I can finish typing, and said, "Mommy?"

Me:"Yes..."(as hard as it is to admit, slightly annoyed)

Brycen:"I love you!" Followed by a big grin.

 

Isn't this what Christmas is all about? I love you. Brycen said it to Mommy. Mommy said it to Jesus. And Jesus in so many ways has said it to all of us. ( name that movie!*) Merry Christmas!!

 

*Mr. Keurger's Christmas

Brycen Boy

For part of Joy school today, we toured the fire station. The firemen were awesome with the boys. Brycen is SO curious these days and asked all sorts of questions, "What does this button do? And this one?" At the end of the tour, they gave each child a hat--all one size--- to take home. With my big head boys, the hat fit Cian just perfectly at 13.5 months old....

 ...And sat on top of Brycen's. One of the fireman tried to guess Brycen's age, "4...no, 5". Our big bundle of joy has yet to slow down (and is 3 and 1/2)!

 Isn't he adorable??? Cian is SO fun. Loves to giggle. And is currently into pointing to things and saying, "uh uh uh!" At a party last night, he walked across the room and pointed at someone's cup to tell me that he was thirsty.

Update on the boys (mainly Brycen)/ more Oct/Nov pictures:

Brycen loves his time with Daddy. Daddy is the fun one, for sure!

Such a character!

Halloween at Fair Oaks Farm.



This was his smile for awhile there.







Cian ADORES Brycen. He wants to do and have whatever Brycen is doing/having. And in the morning and after naptime, Cian expects Mommy to be there--tears will come if not---but it is not until he spots Brycen, that Cian immediately grins from ear to ear.


Brycen is so good with Cian. SUCH an awesome older brother. Daily, Brycen does anything I need him to do to distract, feed, and play with Cian so I can get dinner made and chores done. Don't get me wrong, they do have their moments but it's only when one or both is/are tired OR trying to share me...that almost never works. We went to a friend's party for her one year old daughter yesterday and Brycen was making her laugh so hard the entire time. A sister some day may work out, just great.

When Daddy comes home, life is good. The boys know that they can have Daddy all to themselves while Mommy handles the rest (dinner, cleaning, etc). It works out perfectly awesome. Mommy loves using both hands.


Oh P.S. Totally had a visit from Uncle Mike in October. What a treat!

Waiting for Purdue's Homecoming Parade to start. Brycen learned that when he danced to the music, they gave him candy. There was alot of dancing and alot of candy. The college kids loved him. And Brycen talked about it for weeks.





Brycen loves his friend Madden. We have him over usually once a week while his Mom goes to school. Madden has a 2 year old sister and 4 month old brother. It gets busy but it's do-able because of Brycen (and Madden). At moments, Brycen is throwing away diapers. Other moments, entertaining Cian while I put the baby to sleep and vise versa. I feel SO blessed.

I sure love my Brycen. He loves, gives, laughs, and cries. He is growing up like crazy but there are still a few moments every day that he comes to me and says, "Up, Up!" And wants to be held. I think he will always be my (big) baby.

November....December.....

So...it's been awhile. Let's catch this up.

For weeks straight (practically since he could walk), the broom has been a favorite toy of the littlest man. He loves it and wants to help often.

Brycen went to a friend's birthday party the day before Thanksgiving dressed like this:

It was a beautiful weather.

Black Friday dressing was as follows:

 Mother Nature Roller coaster, for sure!

The day after Black Friday, we were lucky to receive two free tickets to our first and last Purdue Football game. My strong dislike to freeze lead to me to give my ticket to a friend and he was very grateful and loved going with Bryce. It was a great game but goodness, SO cold. I was VERY grateful I stayed home.

 Post Thanksgiving, of course, calls for this:

 LOVE LOVE LOVE this time of year. We decorated the tree, Christmas music has almost been playing non-stop, lots and lots of baking. Love Christ. Love my boys.  Love serving and giving. Love the spirit of it ALL.

St. Nicholas Day Celebration (December 6th). 

Playgroup at the nearby gymnasium. Brycen loves it and we wanted to introduce it to Daddy.

(looks who's hair is FINALLY growing in :)..and who needs a haircut.

A wonderful indoor activity.

ADORE the next two pictures.

AND...The biggest thing lately--- Santa Clause. Goodness, what difference a year makes. Last year, Brycen referred to Santa as "the Lion" and needed much convincing to go near. This year (thanks to some Christmas movies he has been watching), Brycen was SO excited. Prior to Santa arriving at our ward Christmas party, Brycen had an incident that made me take him in the hall and ask him if he wanted to go home. His response brought him to tears, "No! Then we would miss Santa!" Brycen's behavior immediately became perfect (loving the leverage) and when Santa arrived,  Brycen exclaimed, "Santa!" and took a spot in line. He literally jumped up and down saying, "I can't wait!!" the entire time. SO cute.

 Cian did not share the same excitement. 

Haha! Priceless!

The candy cane made it all better. Cian is wearing the Christmas outfit my 28 year old brother wore. Sadly, it's too small and probably won't be worn again but it was fun to pull it out for the occasion.

And...Brycen always makes sure I am in at least one picture. Happy December!

10 days of Halloween!

When it comes to Halloween costumes, I look for WARM and good quality, with the idea that they can be used again, if not by all, of our (future) children. Non-gender specific is even more perfect. 

I'm quite pleased with the deals I found this year. We found Elmo at a garage sale back in June or July and Brycen LOVED it (for $2). And Tiger we found on Craigslist the week before. $5. Carter's. Worn once.Cian was adorable!

The warm factor became a must when Halloween week rolled around and it was FREEZING!! We attempted trunk-or-treating in the church parking lot. But it was too cold for Cian's (and my) liking. So we headed home and Daddy and Brycen did a run around the neighborhood while Mommy and Cian handed out candy.


Cian's first sucker...



...was much enjoyed.



Daddy actually came back from a conference Halloween day after being away for 4 days. While he was gone, our Senior Center right next to our neighborhood held a trick-or-treat welcoming the community to come join. It was indoors. With two rooms of older ladies and gentlemen lining the walls handing out candy. Took 15 minutes. The kids and I loved the whole experience. Bringing smiles to their faces, while they brought smiles to ours. We (as in me) loved all the goodies. Brycen has always loved the collecting part but in years past and this one included, when the candy is out-of-view, he kinda forgets about it. GREAT news for Mommy :) If he asks for it, I share. But if not, no reason to bring it up. Right?:)

He LOVED the clementines though and remembered those every day after. And still asks to go trick-or-treating so he can get some more....

Senior Center Goods.

Ward activities:

Rice Krispy Treats we made for the Halloween Playgroup party.

Enjoying them..

Classic.

Day after Halloween Shopping at Wal-mart.

Brycen actually fell asleep eating a candy cane. One house Bryce and Brycen went to, wasn't quite prepared for trick-or-treaters and gave out a candy cane instead!